ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MIOBOSOOPY, ETC. 267 



the different organisms comprised in the class,* he sees the promise 

 of a fuller and more accurate knowledge in the future of their life- 

 history. 



Faecal Bacteria, f — B. Bienstock has made a detailed examination 

 of the bacteria found in human fgeces under a great variety of circum- 

 stances. Those obtained from healthy men he found to belong exclu- 

 sively to the group Bacillus, their spores having alone a sufficient 

 power of resistance to the antiseptic action of the gastric fluid. Of 

 this group five distinct forms were observed : — 1 and 2. Two large 

 forms, resembling B. suUilis in form and appearance, but differing in 

 the mode of germination of the spores, and in not having the power 

 of spontaneous motion. Although always present in the faeces, the 

 author was unable to determine that these bacilli take any part in the 

 fermentative processes of the intestinal canal ; and they appeared to 

 have no pathogenous properties. 3. A third form was characterized 

 by its very slow growth and minute size ; it acted pathogenetically 

 on mice. 4 and 5. These two forms, invariably present in human 

 fseces beyond the age of suckling, are of the greatest importance in 

 the processes carried on in the digestive canal beyond the stomach. 

 They were of different chemical properties, one bringing about decom- 

 position of albumen, the other of carbohydrates ; the second only 

 was present in the faeces of infants fed only on milk. These forms 

 alone have the power of decomposing albumen or carbohydrates ; the 

 one producing the well-known products of the decomposition of 

 albuminoids, the other splitting up sugar into alcohol and lactic acid. 

 The first produced no decomposing effect on saccharine solutions; 

 the second none on solutions of albuminoids ; though both multiplied 

 freely. The other fsecal bacilli, and those obtained from the air, were 

 also without the least effect. After cultivation for from twenty to 

 forty generations these two forms still retained their power. 



The author derives from these experiments the conclusion that 

 the decomposition of albuminoids and carbohydrates in the intestinal 

 canal is due in each case to one specific bacterial form, which brings 

 about the decomposition without the assistance of any others. 



Influence of Oxygen at high pressure on Bacilliis anthracis. % — 

 J. Wosnessenski comes to the conclusion that Bert was right in 

 regarding oxygen at very high pressures as being mortal to the proto- 

 plasm of Bacillus anthracis; but it is not to be supposed that a 

 gradual augmentation in the pressure of the oxygen will gradually 

 lead to the loss of vitality ; till the pressure exceeds that of fifteen 

 atmospheres of air the organism resists it better than it does oxygen 

 at a normal pressure. The results obtained with increasing pressure 

 vary considerably, according as the experiments are conducted with 

 thick or thin layers ; with the latter the influence of pressure is not 

 marked ; so that with them the result is the same as in Chaveau's 

 experiments on Bacilli at a normal pressure, if a suitable temperature 



* See this Journal, iii. (1883) p. 688. 



t Fortschritte der Medicin, i. (1883) p. 609. See Bot. Centralbl., xvi. (1883) 

 p. 305. 



X Comptes Eendus, xcviii. (1884) pp. 314-7. 



T 2 



